Three intralymphatic injections significantly improve allergic rhinoconjunctivitis

Published: July 14, 2020

Grass pollen is a common cause of allergic rhino-conjunctivitis. Many patients remain symptomatic despite maximal therapy with antihistamine and corticosteroid treatment. Allergen Immunotherapy (AIT) provides lasting relief. Subcutaneous allergen immunotherapy, SCIT, may relieve symptoms but many patients drop out of treatment or do not even start AIT due to the inconvenience of numerous hospital visits required in a three- to five-year treatment. Sublingual AIT can be administered at home but adherence to treatment is disappointingly low. Thus, new AIT modalities are needed. When injecting AIT directly into lymph nodes with ultrasound guidance, Intra Lymphatic Immunotherapy (ILIT), stimulation on the immune system is maximized.
 
In a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial by Skaarup and colleagues recently published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI), patients were allocated into three groups of 12 patients. One group was treated with three ILIT injections over a one-month interval. The second group was treated with three ILIT injections and an extra booster injection during the span of one year and the third group was treated with placebo injections. Patients scored allergic symptoms and use of allergy medicine on a daily basis in three grass pollen seasons following ILIT.

The study found a significant reduction of 48.5% in rhino-conjunctivitis symptoms and use of medicine in the entire three-year follow-up period in the ILIT groups. However, the effect was largest in the first grass pollen season after treatment. The booster injection did not have an additional effect. The safety profile of the ILIT injections was very good with few local reactions on the injections site and no systemic reactions. Immunological blood tests showed change in relevant immunoglobulins in the ILIT groups and no change in the placebo group.

The findings indicate that a clinically significant reduction of grass pollen allergy symptoms with very good safety profile is achieved by three intralymphatic AIT injections (ILIT).  

The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI) is an official scientific journal of the AAAAI, and is the most-cited journal in the field of allergy and clinical immunology.

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